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Desperate for a victory, Kyle Lowry strapped his Raptors teammates to his back and carried the team to a massive 108-106 win on Tuesday night at the ACC.

Lowry scored 33 points — none bigger than an absurd long two-pointer with Solomon Hill draped all over him — that gave the Raptors that final edge with just 4.3 seconds remaining and the much-maligned defence came through in the second half.

With losses in six-of-seven coming in, no DeMar DeRozan and a date at now division-leading Boston less than 24 hours away at tipoff time, the Raptors dug deep to overcome another dreadful defensive start.

“We really need it, it wasn’t beautiful, it wasn’t pretty but I thought the second half we took the challenge,” Dwane Casey said afterward.

“I thought all of our guys took the challenge.”

Struggling through the worst defensive stretch of the season, the Raptors would eventually pile up a number of strong late defensive stands against the New Orleans Pelicans.

Most notably, there was Jonas Valanciunas deterring Jrue Holiday at the rim to force overtime, two straight great stands in the extra frame and then a forced E’Twaun Moore airball after Lowry’s winner.

It was not a beautiful game: Pelicans superstar Anthony Davis was awful, shooting 4-for-18, including 2-for-16 until he hit two big field goals in overtime, non-Lowry Raptors shot 4-for-17 from three-point range and Toronto gave up 13 offensive rebounds to a team posting the worst offensive rebounding numbers ever heading in, but the team will definitely take it.

“We made our stride in the right direction, we still have a long way to go, but overall, defensive-wise, in the second half, we got stops when we needed to down the stretch,” said Patrick Patterson, who was a game-best +21 and hit half of his shots in 35 minutes.

Lowry hit a big three to put Toronto up with just under two minutes remaining in extra time, but Davis finally connected a couple of times, setting up the ridiculous Lowry finish.

They will be asking a lot of Lowry to match this performance in Boston after playing 45 minutes, but there was no way to get him more rest.

“He gets hit more than any all-star that I’ve been around,” Casey said.

“He’s a tough guy, he’s a Philly kid and he’s going to bounce up. He probably should have been a running back for the Eagles, they could probably use him a little bit.

He’s one of the toughest kids I’ve been around.”

Casey had dropped a pre-game surprise, telling the media that Eastern Conference starting all-star guard DeRozan would be held out due to his ankle injury.

“He’s not gonna go (Tuesday) or (Wednesday) night. Our medical team’s gonna hold him out,” Casey said. “He had a little swelling after (returning to the lineup) on Sunday night, so they pulled the plug and told him to take it easy — not take it easy but rehab, get it worked on these next couple days.”

That brought Norman Powell back into the starting mix, and the sophomore swingman took full advantage, fearlessly attacking the rim at every opportunity. Powell threw down a massive dunk over Davis and got in for a number of layups. Powell finished with 18 points and offered the best defence on Holiday, who was fantastic, scoring 30 points, most in the first half.

The Raptors got off to another dreadful start, unable to keep Holiday contained. Holiday blew by a slew of defenders repeatedly to either score inside or set up his teammates for open threes. They were connecting, with Moore turning in a career game with five makes on six outside attempts early on. Holiday and Buddy Hield scored 16 of the first 18 points for the visitors with Davis struggling to hit.

The Raptors trailed at the half for the sixth time in the past nine games and looked extremely listless in allowing the Pelicans to build a 60-46 advantage. Lowry said it felt like a funeral in the locker room at the break.

But a 23-7 Raptors run to begin the third turned the game around and allowed Toronto to take a two-point lead into the fourth.

Both teams had their chances in that frame, culminating in a Lowry turnover with 23 seconds left that gave the Pelicans the ball back in a tied game. But Valanciunas guarded the rim expertly, giving Toronto another chance. One that the gritty group eventually took advantage of.

DeRozan wasn’t the only banged up Raptor. Lowry hurt his hand but stayed in the game, though he was clutching it often. DeMarre Carroll said pre-game that he hurt his middle finger during his scary collision with teammate Pascal Siakam a couple of weeks ago and it has impacted his shooting. Powell was clutching his stomach or chest at the end of the first half.

The Raptors will complete the back-to-back in Boston on Wednesday night, before heading to Orlando for a rematch against the Magic on Friday and a date with the woeful Brooklyn Nets on Super Bowl Sunday.

Better starts will be key.

“We can’t wait to take their first hit or take their first run to bring the energy and bring that focus on the defensive end,” Powell said. “We’ve gotta sustain it from the jump ball.”